At the age of seventeen he went to the University of Oxford, but did not take a degree, being probably called home to superintend the printing business of his father.
On account of his Catholic convictions he left England for Leuven; but upon the accession of Mary he returned, and was made Sergeant-at-law and Treasurer of Lincoln's Inn in 1555.
This inventory furnishes an idea of the modest nature of the law library (consisting of twenty-four works) and of the chambers of an Elizabethan judge.
The first work which bears Rastell's own imprint was A Dyaloge of Sir Thomas More (1531), a reprint of the edition published by his father in 1529.
He also brought out a few law-books, some poetry, an edition of Fabyans Cronycle (1533), and The Apologye (1533) and The Supplycacyon of Soulys of his uncle Sir Thomas More.